


just for tonight (let me pretend)

by tangentiallly



Category: A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
Genre: Don’t copy to another site, F/F, Pining, also featuring some appearances from bertrand monty gustav, kit-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-24 23:38:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17713853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tangentiallly/pseuds/tangentiallly
Summary: Kit and Beatrice share a dance at a masked ball.





	just for tonight (let me pretend)

**Author's Note:**

> disclaimer: I don't own asoue
> 
> please don't copy this story to another site

Beatrice and Bertrand were talking by the bar while Larry prepared the drinks, and Kit looked on from a distance.  The place was loud with music and everyone dancing to it, and it was hard to hear what they were saying.  Fortunately, Kit was still able to make out the gist of their conversation from the way Beatrice’s lips moved.  Beatrice-lip-reading was actually quite easy to learn, if you spent a little time studying those lips while she talked. Or sang in the opera, of course.  Beatrice sometimes talked a lot and also sang fairly often, so it made it an even easier task.

She was talking about a letter from Lemony and how she planned to respond to it.  She started reciting a sonnet.  Kit wondered if Lemony knew how lucky he was, but then thought he must do, the way he talked about her. But he probably didn’t know how lucky he was in the aspect that he didn’t have to hide and could just talk about this freely.  

He had no idea, and she would never tell him about it, ever.  Jacques was a more interesting case, probably.  They never talked about this subject either, but sometimes they didn’t need to talk about things to understand each other.  Sometimes she felt they had some kind of unspoken mutual agreement of list of things to avoid talking about. Plus, Jacques was also extremely close to certain people who Kit was sure knew, and any of them might’ve told him.

Larry handed Beatrice a drink, and of course it was root beer float, because what _else_ could it be?  Kit closed her eyes, trying to force her feelings down, and found she couldn’t.  She needed a distraction of something, fast.  Perhaps she could use a drink herself, definitely not a root beer float, though.  When she walked over to the bar, though, complaining this to someone who might understand sounded like a tempting idea too.  “Dance with me,” she demanded at Bertrand.

He looked back at her, almost expressionless.  He didn’t cast any sideways glance at Beatrice or anything, but she felt she could still hear what he was thinking, could sense the wheels spinning inside his brain.  “No,” he rejected, flatly, and Kit wasn’t surprised.  She was, however, a little annoyed, and wanted to tell him not to interfere.  It was probably too late.

Beatrice, on the other hand, seemed slightly surprised. “That’s rude,” she admonished with a frown, then said immediately. “Dance with _me_ , K.  Don’t mind him.”  She took Beatrice’s hand, pulling her towards the dance floor before Kit could turn back to glare at Bertrand.

“I like your choice of outfit for the masked ball,” Beatrice said, looking at Kit approvingly while guiding their moves as they reached the dance floor.

“I …. didn’t particularly dress for it?” Kit asked, perplexed.  Surely Beatrice, queen of disguises and an actress who frequented the stage often, of all people, could see that.

“Exactly,” she nodded, serious and sincere. “That’s a rather bold move, I think.  Not everyone has the courage to choose to do so.  It’s a statement, especially amongst everyone wearing similarly styled masks and dresses and suits trying to blend in.  I admire that.”

Kit blinked, not having expected that.  Beatrice liked extravagant stuff, didn’t she?  It felt odd to be complimented by Beatrice in this aspect.  Nice, but odd. Made Kit feel a little lightheaded.  “Not _everyone_ ’s in similar styled masks and dresses and suits trying to blend in,” she managed, her gaze landing on Beatrice’s dragonfly wings.

Beatrice beamed, looking delighted. It was amazing how radiant someone could look just by smiling wide.  Positively unreal.  “I know!  This dragonfly outfit is amazing, isn’t it?  One of a kind, really.”

“Yeah,” Kit agreed, feeling herself grin back at Beatrice, like some kind of reflect her body just decided to do without her brain deciding on it first. Did these dragonfly wings have magic abilities?  Sounded plausible. “Truly one of a kind.”  She almost added “you are” at the end, but stopped herself in time.  They were talking about the wings, weren’t they?  _Stay focused, Snicket_ , she told herself.

Beatrice laughed, then gave Kit a twirl.  The scenes of other people dancing flashed past for a quick second, and then Beatrice’s back in the view again, looking right into Kit’s eyes. Obviously Kit had looked at Beatrice’s eyes many times before, but she didn’t think they’d ever been in this close proximity.  It felt too close, too intimate, too direct.  It was exciting, but also a little frightening if she were to be honest.

It felt like just a few seconds, and it felt like a whole night, and then Beatrice twirled her again as the same tunes came up again.  Kit let herself enjoy the speed of the spin, and Beatrice’s firm hold on her hand. It was a nice combination, she decided.  Top quality.

They danced past Monty and Gustav and the snake resting on Monty’s shoulders.  Beatrice, with her natural affinity for animals, stopped to say hello to the snake, and let it take it climb onto her wings before climbing back onto Monty. Kit’s eyes followed the snake’s path cautiously, even though both Monty and Gustav assured her that the snake was in fact very friendly and not all lethal.

The snake climbed back onto Monty’s shoulders, and Kit and Beatrice continued dancing.  A fast song came up, and they sped up their moves accordingly.  Beatrice kept changing the directions they were moving towards, completed with sudden sharp turns and dramatic stops and immediate spinning again.

It was even better than a taxi drive in the city, and Kit let herself just immerse in all this for a moment. Just tonight, she told herself. She could pretend that every moment tonight was an eternity.  Every touch, every smile, every detail on Beatrice’s face.

_Just tonight._

Tomorrow, she would go back remembering that Beatrice was someone she could never have.

_Just tonight._

She was going to enjoy the figurative light that seemed to be radiating out of Beatrice, or perhaps she should call it literal, because the dragonfly dress had small light bulbs on it.  Truly one of a kind, just like the person wearing it.

Beatrice dipped Kit, and Kit thought that it was really strong of her to be able to dip Kit while wearing the who-knew-how-heavy wings.  But then again, everyone always knew Beatrice was the strongest out of them all.

Beatrice’s face was dangerously close again, her facial features clear in Kit’s eyes, especially those lips.  Kit let imagination run wild.  _Just tonight_.

The song ended, and Beatrice pulled Kit back up again.  Kit felt slightly disoriented as she stood up on her feet again, but it was probably just because of the pose moments ago.

“This is fun,” Beatrice declared grandly.

Kit smiled weakly at her.  “Yeah,” she agreed.

_Just tonight._

**Author's Note:**

> find me on [tumblr](https://beatricebidelaire.tumblr.com)


End file.
